TICKETS GO ON SALE IN MARCH

INTIMAN THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2017 PROGRAMMING

Intiman will produce two major productions and other programming focused on
intersectionality, co-curated by Sara Porkalob.

Through professional productions, community partnerships and training programs, Intiman Theatre will make it possible for over two dozen intersectional stories to be shared live and onstage over the course of 2017.

Building on the success of 2016, when Intiman produced plays exclusively by Black women, Intiman is thrilled to partner with Co-Curator Sara Porkalob to create a year devoted to stories that celebrate where our identities intersect – including race, class, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation — and how that shapes how we see each other.

Co-Curator Sara Porkalob.

“The Seattle community is full of stories that deserve to be shared and it is time to give resources and our focus to those narratives,” Co-Curator Sara Porkalob says. “As we move toward equity and representation of diverse voices and communities, it’s crucial to hand over the mic and offer a platform for support.”

Intiman will kick off its year on June 1 with a major production featuring a cast of 10 local actors that explores racial politics, addiction and family in a hysterical and bold way. BARBECUE by Robert O’Hara and directed by Malika Oyetimein, is a take on the classic American family story in a way not seen before onstage.

BARBECUE Director Malika Oyetimein.

“Robert O’Hara is a genius at making you laugh at things that are usually not funny,” Oyetimein said. “People tend to embrace the things that make us different rather than the complexities that make us all human beings. We want to turn that idea on its head with this story.”

Oyetimein also directed BOOTYCANDY for Intiman in a studio production in 2015.

“Malika is a unique talent that needs to be supported and fostered,” Producing Artistic Director Andrew Russell said. “Intiman is proud to bring her back to Intiman to direct another sharp and smart play by Robert O’Hara, especially in her final year of study at the University of Washington.”

Intiman is producing BARBECUE at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute June 1-June 25 and looks forward to deepening its relationship with this iconic venue and building on the success of 2016, when it produced STICK FLY to sold out audiences.

Intiman’s second major production is the world premiere of DRAGON LADY, a Filipina gangster musical about a 60-year-old matriarch, six women, three generations and one murder.

Written and performed by Sara Porkalob and directed by Andrew Russell, this production is the culmination of several years of work and tells an intersectional story from an immigrant’s perspective.

“We see in Sara a writer and performer who should be on stages all over this country performing this hysterical, moving and well made musical experience about her family and herself.” Russell said. “We’re thrilled to be an important step along that journey.”

DRAGON LADY will be performed at The Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse at the University of Washington September 7-October 1.

In addition to producing two major productions featuring relevant, diverse stories, Intiman is working to champion diversity onstage and off by creating new learning opportunities for theatre artists with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, including artists of color.

For the third year, Intiman will produce the IntimanEmerging Artists Program (IEAP), a free program that brings 30 up-and-coming local artists together during the summer for free professional training and development that prepares them to work professionally in the region. In 2016 the cohort was 73 percent people of color and 63 percent female-identified.

This year’s selected Emerging Artists will also develop solo works under the mentorship of Sara Porkalob, to create a showcase production. Applications are still open. To apply, and learn more please visit Intiman’s website here.

The Seattle community will have the opportunity to help support Intiman’s 2017 plans during its #SHOWTHELOVE campaign, which launches on Feb 18 and runs through March 5. #SHOWTHELOVE is a fun, online giving campaign that builds a vibrant community to empower a lot of people to give a little and make a huge difference. Last year this community-driven fundraising campaign helped Intiman raise over $75,000 from nearly 700 donors.

Sara Porkalob is an award-winning solo performer, actor, director and arts activist based in Seattle recently recognized in City Art’s 2017 Future List. In March 2017, she will be premiering her new solo show DRAGON BABY as part of Seattle Fringe Festival and this fall will be directing CORIOLANUS: FIGHT LIKE A B*TCH, an intersectional feminist deconstruction of Shakespeare’s play, produced by her company The Demo Site. She is a co-founder of DeConstruct, an online journal of intersectional performance critique.

About Intiman Theatre

Intiman Theatre is a community engaged and socially progressive theatre that produces produces plays, readings and events that are exciting, relevant to our time and as diverse as the community in which we live. A Tony Award-winning regional theatre, Intiman has presented over 225 productions to Seattle audiences that wrestle American inequities and start important conversations.

Over the last five years Intiman has focused on producing models and stories that celebrate those that do not always get their stories told, including: 20 plays by Black women in 2016; Robert O’Hara’s uproarious satire BOOTYCANDY in 2015; Tony Kushner’s epic ANGELS IN AMERICA in 2014; the premier of STU FOR SILVERTON, a new musical about the first openly transgender mayor in America in 2013; and MIRACLE!, created and directed by Dan Savage, in 2012.

With a priority to place inclusive, diverse stories on stage, Intiman also created a Co-Curator leadership model in 2016 and partnered with notable local and national artist Valerie Curtis-Newton. With the success of this effort, Intiman staff and board made the decision to solidify and strengthen the Co-Curator position as an official change to its leadership model as a move toward equitable theatre producing.

MEDIA CONTACT For more information or to request interviews, please contact Amber Tafoya at amber@intiman.org.